This archive report was first published on 7 September 2019.
At the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, Alibaba Group Vice President Brian Wong emphasized the continent's potential for digital economy growth, drawing parallels with China's rapid expansion 20 years ago.
Wong noted that Africa's lack of traditional economic infrastructure, such as retail and banking systems, presents an opportunity for the continent to leapfrog and adopt digital solutions.
He cited China's experience, where the country had a rudimentary retail infrastructure, a large population, but only 8.8 million internet users and a per-capita income of $800 in 1999. Today, Africa has over 850 million internet users, a per-capital income of $9,000, and a total e-commerce turnover of $1 trillion.
Wong attributed China's immense growth to the lack of developed infrastructure, which allowed people to leapfrog traditional sectors and go straight into digital. He emphasized the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset, which can be nurtured through training, supportive policies, education, and community building.
Alibaba is part of a group of multinational corporations working with organizations such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to help transform Africa's digital economy.
Jack Ma's $10 million Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative aims to identify 100 African entrepreneurs building companies that will lead Africa to the next stage of development.
Alibaba is also a founding member of the Africa Growth Platform, which focuses on building Africa's digital economy. The platform includes partners such as A. T. Kearney, Dalberg Group, Export Trading Group, the U.S. African Development Foundation, and Zenith Bank.
Alibaba has launched several initiatives to support Africa's digital economy, including the Global E-commerce Talent – Train the Trainers program, which aims to deepen teachers' understanding of the e-commerce industry. Rwandan startups and government officials are also being trained on economic growth in the digital era.
Alibaba and UNCTAD have launched the eFounders Fellowship to train 1,000 entrepreneurs on the digital economy, with 200 fellows coming from Africa.
